NOVEL NEXT Chapter 2: Survive!
The first thing Riven felt was pain.
His head throbbed like someone had used it for a drum solo at a rock concert. His chest was worse, grinding against something jagged and cold.
He groaned. "Ugh… I'm never skipping class again. History is safer....but... this my only chance to see them…there's no way their dead."
When he opened his eyes, he wished he hadn't.
The world was dim but was illuminated by a faint violet glow seeping from cracks in the cavern walls...Ugh..."it's seems am in a cave huh...no wonder no monster passed through the gray Veil....at at least it's the weakest type of Veil."
Shadows danced in the distance, twisting like ink inside water. The ground beneath him was not stone, not soil....something in between, pulsing faintly like it was alive.
"This isn't Silver Town anymore, and the portal is gone too...damn it....sigh...mum, dad....I hope I find you, well I will find you if I die too right, right??" Riven started blabbing to himself, that's one way to reduce stress....he pushed himself upright.
His legs shook, but he forced them steady.
Then he remembered.
The veil. The panel. The weird green hologram.
"So, this is how a veil looks like....?" he whispered. His hand instinctively reached for the empty air in front of him. To his shock, the emerald screen blinked awake.
[System Online]
[Status Window Available]
"Holy crap, it's real." His voice cracked. "I've actually gotten… a system? Like an actual hunter?" Wait....
"So all I have to do is punch air for my system to appear??....or is it something else?" He asked himself...he started blabbering again, he uses this to cope when stressed.
"Lemme try it again " he punched out again.
But this time...nothing...just the same text on the panel.
"Ugh" he sighed in frustration. Seems I can't get it to work yet.
"Hmm?" For a moment, he forgot the eerie silence and the creepy cave with it's purple light illuminating it from outside.
His brain was too busy comprehending his situation.
But the excitement died as quickly as it came.
If he had a system… it meant he'd need it. And if he needed it, it meant...
Something dangerous was nearby.
[Ting]
[Rank F monster spotted : a goblin]
I knew it!!!.
A raspy hiss, followed by the dragging scrape of metal against stone.
Riven's heart climbed into his throat.
He turned his head slowly, praying it was just his imagination.
It wasn't.
From the shadowed tunnel ahead, a shape emerged. Small. Crooked. Its green skin shone under the violet glow.
Wearing a black rag like skirt.Beady red eyes locked on him, and in its clawed hand, it dragged a crude spiked club.
"...A goblin?" Riven croaked. "my luck seems to have ran out huh... a F Rank monster, am not even athletic, how will I defeat that...And guess what? I don't even have a rusty sword...why can't we just spawn with a real sword for crying out loud.....well, I did enter by my own free will after all...ugh"
The goblin stared at the human mumbling at itself like it has gone insane in fear...which it has, from the looks of it...the goblin couldn't help but cackled at the pathetic human.
"Gwuhaha!!!"
"W-what!! It laughed!?" Raven was shocked cause in monster anatomy class, it's said that monsters ranked below rank D are said to be unintelligent....but this goblin show enough intelligence to laugh??.
The goblin hissed again and broke into a sprint, club raised high.
Riven's instincts screamed at him to run, but his body locked up. He wasn't in front of a monitor.
There was no respawn, Just flesh, blood, and death sprinting toward him.
"I-I don't wanna die like this!" he yelled, stumbling backward. "At least let me find a clue to my family dammit!!!"
The goblin lunged with a leap, swinging its club down.
Riven squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the crunch of his skull.
and suddenly, the world shifted.
His vision flickered, and in the blink of an eye, his body swapped places with the goblin.
The monster's club smashed into the ground where he had been lying moments ago right onto his phone.
Riven's eyes went wide. "M-My phone!!" he screamed in despair. "That was my only lifeline to civilization, you bastard!...I didn't even check if there's reception...ugh am so stupid ".
The goblin jerked around, eyes narrowing as it spotted him again. It hissed, saliva dripping down its jagged teeth.
The sound of its claws dragging the spiked club against the stone echoed, grating against Riven's nerves.
He swallowed. "Okay… okay. Think, Riven. You're in a Gray Veil . Step one: survive. Step two: figure out how to use the ability this 'system' just gave you."
As if answering his plea, a new panel flickered before him.
[Emotion Detected: Fear]
[Do you wish to Loot this Emotion?]
[Target : Host]
"What?" he whispered, eyes widening. "Wait, you mean… I can steal my own fear?" he didn't even think to question how it operated.
The goblin shrieked and charged again.
"YES! Loot it! Take it! I don't need fear, just...just do something!"
The panel pulsed.
[Fear Looted Successfully]
[Effect: Reflex Surge – Reaction speed increased for 30 seconds]
In that instant, the world slowed. The goblin's sprint felt sluggish, its movements exaggerated, like watching a laggy video game.
Riven's body moved before he thought, ducking under the swing and rolling to the side. His palms burned against the rough ground, but adrenaline...no, the system...pushed him forward.
"Holy crap… it worked. It actually worked!" he gasped, standing shakily. His heart hammered against his ribs, but the fear was gone. It wasn't courage, exactly. It was emptiness, fear wasn't holding him back anymore. His body ran on cold calculation now.
The goblin snarled and swung again. This time, Riven sidestepped, snatching up a jagged stone from the ground.
"Die!!!!" he shouted..his fear evaporated, slamming the rock into the goblin's temple with every ounce of strength he had.
The monster staggered, shrieking in pain. Blood sprayed from the wound, dark and foul.
For a brief second, Riven froze. He had actually hurt it.
Then the goblin roared and lunged again.
"Oh, come on!" Riven yelped, scrambling back. "Why can't you just do the decent thing and die!!?"
He dodged another swing, barely keeping balance. His lungs burned, his body shaking despite the stolen fear.
Another panel appeared.
[Emotion Detected: Rage]
[Target: Goblin]
[Do you wish to Loot this Emotion?]
Riven blinked, panting. "Wait… I can steal its emotions too?"
The goblin shrieked, eyes glowing hotter with fury.
Riven grinned despite himself. "Hell yeah. Gimme that anger, greenie!!."
[Emotion Looted: Rage]
[Effect: Strength Surge – Attack power increased for 15 seconds]
Power flooded his limbs, hot and violent. Without hesitation, he swung the jagged rock again, this time smashing it straight into the goblin's jaw.
The force sent the monster crashing to the ground.
It spasmed, growled, then stilled.
Riven stood over the corpse, chest heaving, bloodied rock slipping from his trembling fingers.
He had done it. His first kill.
But the victory didn't taste sweet. His stomach churned. The smell of blood clung to him.
He collapsed onto his knees, gasping. "What… the actual… fuck…"
The panel blinked again.
[Monster Slain: Goblin – F Rank]
[Reward: +5 Survival Points]
[New Task Available: Survive the First Night]
[Exp will be distributed after first Veil ascending].
Riven stared blankly at the glowing text. His breath came ragged, his heart pounding harder now that the system's effects faded.
"Survive the first night?" he whispered, his voice breaking. "Oh, God… this isn't even a game . What do you mean by that dammit!!!."
"Ugh...this place is unbearable now...uhggg" he puked...
"Ugh, there goes my lunch...what did you even eat?!!" He kicked the body of the goblin.
He had to step out of the cave...the odor from the goblin makes him feel like he's gonna puke again.
For the first time since stepping into the Veil, Riven felt truly cold.
The goblin hadn't been the end. It was the beginning.